M (comics)
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| M | |
 Cover art for X-Factor (vol 3) #10. Art by Ryan Sook. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #316 (September, 1994) |
| Created by | Scott Lobdell Chris Bachalo |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix |
| Species | Human Mutant |
| Team affiliations | X-Factor Investigations Generation X X-Corps X-Men X-Corporation: Paris |
| Notable aliases | M-Plate, Penance II |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, speed, agility, dexterity, reflexes, coordination, balance, vision, hearing and endurance Genius level intellect Accelerated healing factor Supersonic Flight Telepathy Ability to perceive mutant auras |
- This article is about the Marvel Comics superheroine. For the Norwegian comic strip, see M (comic strip).
M (Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix) is a fictional comic book superheroine, a mutant who appears in the X-Men family of books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Chris Bachalo, she originally was a member of the teenage mutant group Generation X, and now appears in the series X-Factor.
Contents |
[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Early life
Monet St. Croix was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and is the eldest child of the rich and eccentric Ambassador Cartier St. Croix and his Algerian wife. She grew up as a pompous and spoiled rich girl as a result of being the favored child of her father. Shortly after her mother’s mysterious death, her brother Marius, the vampiric mutant known as Emplate was banished from the St. Croix home. He eventually returned after learning the dark arts and requested that Monet join him in conquering another dimension. She cruelly rejected his offer and after finally having enough of his sister's ridicule, Marius transformed her into a red-skinned, untouchable, mute creature whom he nicknamed Penance. Monet's younger sisters, Nicole and Claudette, heard the commotion and quickly went to her room, when they could not find Monet, they assumed that Marius had killed her. The twins then banished him to another dimension while Monet followed, believing it was her only way to revert back to normal.
Afraid their father would break down after the loss of his favorite child, the twin sisters decided to merge bodies and replicate Monet both mentally and physically. This version of Monet would have been identical to the original if it weren't for Claudette's autism. Since both the twins' minds were combined, Claudette's autism would sometimes take effect, leaving "Monet" in catatonic stupors. Subsequently, while the twins were impersonating their sister, they were among the new generation of mutants captured by the techno-organic alien race known as the Phalanx.
[edit] Generation X
The twins (under the guise of Monet), helped to battle the Phalanx until she and the other teenage mutants were rescued by Banshee and Emma Frost. The group soon formed the Generation X team with Sean and Emma acting as co-headmasters of the new school designed to train them in the use of their powers.
During this time, the true Monet had finally managed to escape to earth after years of torture as her brother’s main source of sustenance for his energy-draining powers. The Australian teleporter known as Gateway was currently training the twins when he found and brought the physically and mentally drained Penance to Generation X. At first she was violently distrustful, but soon accepted her place and joined the team. Months after the arrival of Penance, Emplate returned to the Academy to reclaim his "meal." Extremely angry that he had been deprived of his main sustenance, he and his newly formed Hellions stormed Generation X. While there, he revealed to Generation X that "Monet" was really his sister. Unfortunately for Emplate, Generation X, with the help of Bishop, defeated him and saved Penance.
[edit] M/Penance/M-Twins
Later on, it was finally revealed that "Monet" was truly Nicole and Claudette in disguise. After a battle with the Prime Sentinels, "Monet" was knocked unconscious after being hit by an explosion and buried under a pile of debris. When teammate Synch cleared off the rocks, he did not find "M", but instead the younger twin sisters. However, the secret of where the real Monet was remained a mystery as Nicole and Claudette were now in a coma.
Soon after Emplate came back to terrorize the young mutants, the twins merged with Emplate, creating a new persona, called "M-Plate". When the three of them separated, the twins finally learned what their brother did to the real Monet St. Croix. The twins kept this secret for a short time, until Synch accidentally synched with the twins' telepathy. Everett managed to convince Nicole to finally reveal the truth to the rest of the team. Immediately after Nicole's story, the twins formed back into "M" and then merged with Penance, freeing Monet in the process, while leaving themselves trapped in the mute body for the time being.
Returning to normal, the traumatized M became self-reliant and outwardly harsh and defensive to make up for her fear and insecurity, causing her to clash with many of her Generation X teammates. The only person she allowed to see her vulnerabilities was Everett Thomas, with whom she started a brief romantic relationship. A rivalry soon started with her teammate Jubilee, which only intensified after Monet and Everett became an item. When Emplate returned during the school dance, Jubilee caused an explosion, which, once again, separated the twins from each other, and left the Penance body to become its own being.
[edit] Leaving the Academy
Upon hearing the return of the twins, Cartier St. Croix decided to visit his three daughters. When he arrived he came face to face for the first time in years with his son Marius who was severely injured. He tried to make amends with all of his children for having neglected them for so long. After Cartier apologized to his son, Marius finally revealed that he was the one responsible for the death of his mother, which only further infuriated Monet.
Cartier‘s way of showing he cared was to transfer his daughters away from the academy because he did not believe they were happy there. Monet was then transferred to an exclusive boarding school in the Swiss Alps. Monet seemed to be adapting fine to her new school, but she soon found out that the headmaster was really a vampire, who was responsible for a number of deaths. Monet quickly defeated him, and the school was burned down. Afterwards, M had a choice to go to any school she wanted, but she chose to return to the Massachusetts Academy.
[edit] Final days of Generation X
When Monet returned, she and Everett continued to grow close and began to intensify their relationship. However, Monet was the most devastated when Synch sacrificed his own life to stop an exploding bomb that had been placed in the academy by Emma Frost’s sister, Adrienne. After the tragic incident, the team rapidly began to fall apart, even as Monet began to open up and act more vulnerable around her teammates. Monet also began to observe Emma acting strangely villainous. After they found out Emma had killed her sister in retribution for Everett's death, the entire team questioned Emma's leadership abilities, particularly when combined with Banshee's relapse into alcoholism following the death of his lover, Moira MacTaggert. The school was promptly closed when the students decided their instructors were no longer fit to teach them.
[edit] X-Corps/X-Corporation
After Generation X disbanded, M temporarily joined Banshee's militant X-Corps with Husk and Jubilee in order to keep an eye on the devastated Irish mutant. However, the X-Corps were soon destroyed by Mystique, leaving M to join the X-Corporation's European branch, located in Paris, where she assisted Cannonball, Multiple Man, and Siryn in defeating Weapon XII. Monet helped the X-Men battle Black Tom Cassidy and the Juggernaut before returning to her duties at X-Corporation Paris.
[edit] X-Factor Investigations
Following the events of House of M and the shutdown of X-Corporation, M, who also has appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair[1], has opted to join X-Factor Investigations, a private detective agency run by Multiple Man. Monet completed her first mission on the team by telepathically tricking the famous actor, Jack Vaughn, to confess to the murder of Gloria Santiago's sister. Afterwards, Monet broke down crying in Jamie Madrox's arms, but quickly threatened to break him in half if he ever revealed her moment of "weakness." A comment made to Rictor seems to imply she no longer wishes to go by the name M. However, in a therapy session with Doc Samson, Monet stated that she hides behind the "M" persona so that others will not see how vulnerable she has become after the lengthy time she was held captive by her brother.
Monet also had a brief romantic fling with Madrox. The tryst did not end well because Madrox was unsure whether he or his duplicate had slept with Monet while he or his duplicate slept with Siryn at the same time. While the two women initially refused to speak to each other, they eventually took a jet-setting shopping trip to patch things up after being threatened by Layla Miller. During this Paris trip, the two encountered a small anti-mutant mob marching on Paris' own Mutant Town, and were arrested by the Gendarmes for breaking the riot up. Instead of fighting the police off and saving the ex-mutants, they surrendered, not wishing to create a "mutant-terrorizes-innocent-people" story. However, in a French prison, the mob leader bragged to Siryn and Monet that he and his mob had succeeded in burning down the building, which was why he had been arrested. An emotionless M tore off the bar from her cell, and threw it at the man, injuring him. When asked what she had done by Siryn, she coldly replied, "I made a political statement." Soon after, Monet crucified the mob leader before she and Siryn broke out of the prison to check on the ex-mutants. When the two arrived, they found an abandoned girl whom Monet decided to take back to the States.
After returning home, Jamie sends Monet and Theresa to Nashville to retrieve two children from their parents, (and the mutant hating cult they belong to), and return them to their grandparents. When they attempt to take them, Siryn is knocked out when a bullet fired by one of the children's mutant bodyguards grazes her head, and another bodyguard knocks out Monet by holding a cloth drenched with chloroform over her mouth. Monet awakes chained to the floor of a bunker along with Theresa, (who is tied to a chair with her mouth duct taped shut to prevent the use of her powers). After taunting Theresa, (who is unable to retort back due to the tape over her mouth), Monet is eventually able to break free, and the two women abduct the children and bring them back to their grandparents.
[edit] World War Hulk
When the Hulk came to the X-mansion to capture Xavier over his part in the Hulk's Banishment from Earth, Monet and the rest of X-Factor came to help.
[edit] Messiah Complex
M has a small role during Messiah Complex. She is seen along with the rest of the X-Teams and has a talk with Warpath about his feelings. She is present at the final battle on Muir Island.
[edit] Divided We Stand
M buys all the women of X-Factor Investigations an iPhone, but destroys Rahne's when she finds out she is leaving. She tells Rahne about how she is always telling her to feel and claims that since Layla isn't coming back, she will keep her iPhone in mint condition until Rahne returns to X-Factor. She leaves, telling Rahne to not be a stranger, or stranger then she already is. She then goes to a bar with Siryn where Theresa reveals she is pregnant. Monet offers to be with her if she chooses to get it aborted, only to be told she isn't getting taking that option. M also states that Theresa has embryos more mature than Jamie, and that "he would make a crap father." Later Siryn tries to tell Jamie of her pregnancy but Monet realizes Siryn still loves Jamie.
When Arcade makes his presence in Mutant Town known, Monet tries to rescue Rictor only to be zapped with electricity. She recovers but starts mixing up peoples names. (Like calling Rictor, Sam and Jamie, Scott). After dealing with Arcade, Monet, like the rest of X-Factor split up to help the trapped citizens of Mutant Town.
[edit] Powers and abilities
It was once noted by Bishop that M possessed a superior excellent rating in all human physical categories. Former Generation X team mate, Jubilee once pointed out that M's mutant gift was that of "perfection".
Known Powers: M is superhuman in essentially all aspects.
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Endurance: A combination of :
-
- Invulnerability: Highly resistant to physical injuries.
- Healing Factor: M possesses a regenerative quality allowing her to heal and recover from wounds. The effect also has the added benefit of making her more resistant to toxins and disease, and possibly the aging process.
- Enhanced Senses: M possesses telescopic and night vision and more acute hearing. It is possible her other senses are enhanced also.
- Enhanced Agility and Dexterity: her agility and dexterity are greatly enhanced, far more than peak human.
- Superhuman Speed, Reflexes, Coordination, Balance: her speed, reflexes, coordination, and balance are greatly enhanced, far more than a peak human.
- Flight: ability to psionically levitate and move herself in the air by force of will.
- Telepathy: ability to read minds, project her thoughts into the minds of others, and defensively mask her mind against telepathic intrusion. Limited offensive capabilities, e.g. mind control, memory wipe, etc. The range of this ability is generally limited to within a few feet of Monet.
- Sibling-Merge: Monet and all her siblings are able to merge into different combinations with different powers, although it seems easiest for the twins Nicolette and Claudette.
- Perception of mutant auras: the ability to view mutant auras
Known Abilities: M is formidable in hand-to-hand combat and is of genius level intellect. Though, it is unknown whether or not her mutations adhere to her intelligence.
[edit] Other versions
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
In the harsh world known as the Age of Apocalypse, Monet was known as Know-It-All and was part of Generation Next, having merged with the team's computer system. She risked her life to search the databases of Apocalypse, a task which ended in her destruction at the hands of the Shadow King. Strangely her real name was given as Claudia. This, however, may have been a clue on (then-writer) Scott Lobdell's part, as he never intended for there to be a 'real' Monet, just the twins.
The St.Croix twins, who were added to the AOA timeline after their backstory had been created, were called "The Monets" and worked alongside their brother in Apocalypse's Elite Mutant Force.
[edit] X-Men: The End
In the alternate future in the X-Men: The End series written by Chris Claremont, M is a member of the XSE and a critical part of the hastily marshalled forces attempting to defeat Mr. Sinister.
[edit] In other media
[edit] Movies
In the widely panned Generation X TV movie, she was played by Amarilis Savón. The movie version displayed no psionic powers, and when describing her abilities mentioned only physical powers.
[edit] Citizenship
- Monet is a citizen of Algeria, Bosnia, and France with passports from all three. It is not clear how she obtained her Algerian citizenship, however, as Algeria does not allow women to pass on Algerian citizenship to their children, and only Monet's mother was Algerian. She may have used her father's wealth and position to secure it, though this remains speculation.
- Interestingly enough, when first presented, Monet was said to be not from Algeria, but rather from neighboring Morocco.
[edit] References
- ^ X-Factor vol. 3 #9
[edit] External links
- KMC Monet respect thread
- MarvelDatabase: M (Monet St. Croix)
- Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
- Spotlight On...M
- Monet Uncannyxmen.net Character Bio
- Mutatis Mutandis Bio
